Google-backed satellites for wildfire detection launch as smoke chokes US, Canada

As smoke from hundreds of wildfires spread across Canada and the United States, the first three operational satellites in the Google-backed FireSat program successfully launched into orbit. According to Ars Technica, the microsatellites lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on July seventh. Designed by California-based Muon Space, the satellites will detect even small fires across the United States, Australia, and Europe—beginning operations by the end of the year. The Earth Fire Alliance, the nonprofit managing the constellation, plans to cover every fire-prone region on Earth at least twice daily. The program has received over fifteen million dollars from Google and twenty-six million dollars from the Bezos Earth Fund.

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